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The Music in It

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Perhaps you’ve heard of “If”
poems? These are poems characterized by conditional clauses (“if clauses”).
Such clauses can be used to get a poem started or may be inserted in various
places through the text of a poem. Poems of
this type are not the typical “what
if” sort of poem. They do something more.

Note: A conditional clause is a
type of adverbial clause that states a hypothesis or condition, real or
imagined, and their consequences. A conditional clause may be introduced by the
subordinating conjunction if or
another conjunction, such as because,unless, provided that, or but.
Like other adverbial clauses, a conditional clause may before or after the
clause on which it states a condition.

One of the most famous “if poems”
is “If—” written by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling begins with a conditional clause
and goes on to add interest by creating a kind of causal tension when he
contradicts his “if” clauses with details, contradictions, and contrasts. There
are also “result” clauses that follow the “ifs.” Here’s the beginning of
Kipling’s poem:

If you can keep
your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and
blaming it on you,

If you can trust
yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for
their doubting too;

If you can wait
and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t
deal in lies,

Or being hated,
don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too
good, nor talk too wise:

In “King of the River,” Stanley
Kunitz does much the same thing and keeps us, as readers, waiting for what will
come next. His long sentences create suspense and a sense of mystery and
expectation as the poem’s momentum begins and is sustained. Here’s the
beginning of “King of the River:”

As you can see in the three
examples, conditional clauses create mood, conditions, limitations,
dependencies, and expectations. Along
with “if” clauses, others that work similarly include “but,” “although,”
“when,” and “because.”

Guidelines:

1. Begin by writing a list of “ifs.”
Think about things in your own life, in the natural world, etc.

2. Follow with a list of “then”
statements so you have “ifs” and “thens.”

3. Reflect on your lists for a
while. Do any of the ideas link or match up?

4. Begin a poem with one of your “if”
clauses, add an appropriate “then” and continue. See where the poem leads you.

5. Remember to start out by
thinking in terms of “ifs” and “thens,” but don’t be limited by them.

6. Try writing a poem like
Kipling’s in which you set up the characteristics or necessary qualities for
some personal kind of success.

7. Using my prose poem below, write
a poem that looks at something which made an awareness occur. Create a setting,
configure a truth, move from the specific, individual experience to something
more universal

If It Hadn’t
Been

We wouldn’t be here
if it hadn’t been for the rain, the wind-loosened trees (this quiet shelter);
and I wouldn’t tell you how nothing wonderful ever matches its memory, how not
going home is a sadness we all carry. I wouldn’t tell you what I know about
losing, how what we keep is never all that we need.

MY NEWEST BOOK

Click on the cover image to order.

ABOUT NOT ASKING WHAT IF

"Kenny has written some of the most hauntingly beautiful spiritual haiku I’ve ever read—haiku that take us as close to divinity as human language can get. Her haiku are spare and commanding, rich in imagery, and layered with meaning." (Alex Pinto, Tiferet)

“Traditional haiku, environmental haiku, psychological haiku, spiritual haiku—Adele Kenny has done them all. Her haiku are spare and powerful, always nuanced with rich symbolism. Her images and juxtapositions make readers hold their breath in wonder.” (Malachy McCourt, Author of A Monk Swimming)

A LIGHTNESS, A THIRST, OR NOTHING AT ALL — BOOK TRAILER

WHAT MATTERS

ABOUT WHAT MATTERS

"In Adele Kenny's finely wrought meditations on grief and loss, she never forgets that she's a maker of poems. What Matters straddles two of the exigencies of the human condition: diminishment and endurance. It abounds with poems that skillfully earn their sentiments." (Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize in Poetry)

"These are poems that come to (poetic) grips with the issues of grief, fear, and death ... focused in a new and strong way." (Gerald Stern, National Book Award in Poetry)

BLOG AUTHOR PROFILE

I’m the author of 24 books (poetry & nonfiction) with poems published in journals worldwide, as well as in books and anthologies from Crown, Tuttle, Shambhala, and McGraw-Hill.
I’ve worked as a guest poet for numerous agencies, have twice been a featured reader in the Dodge Poetry Festival, and my awards include two poetry fellowships from the NJ State Arts Council, the 2012 International Book Award for Poetry, and the Distinguished Alumni Award (Kean University). My book, A LIGHTNESS, A THIRST, OR NOTHING AT ALL, is a 2016 Paterson Prize finalist. In March of 2012, I was appointed Poet Laureate of Fanwood, NJ by the Borough Mayor and Council.
A former professor of creative writing in the College of New Rochelle’s Graduate School, I’m founding director of the Carriage House Poetry Series and poetry editor for Tiferet Journal. I give readings and conduct both agency-sponsored and private poetry workshops.

MY WEBSITE

REALLY FUNNY (Bulldog Reading Dylan Thomas)

HOW TO READ POETRY – Funny!

ATTENTION HAIKU POETS

If your area of interest is haiku and its related forms, click the image above for a list of journals (published in various countries) that might interest you.

ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE

Ever find yourself in the middle of a poem and unable to find that one perfect word? Here's the link for a site that provides synonyms, antonyms, related words, similar sounding words, and much more. Easy to use!